Thornberry bursts into laughter after Trott claims CPTPP is a ‘huge trade deal’

Emily Thornberry struggled to conceal her amusement at claims that a new trade deal with the Indo-Pacific region is a “huge deal” for Britain.

Kemi Badenoch signed off UK membership to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) in New Zealand earlier this month.

Britain is the first new member and first European nation to join the bloc – comprising Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam – since its formation in 2018, probably due to… you know, geographical reasons.

The Sunday Express was quick to claim the signing of the agreement will bring a £12 trillion trade boost to Britain which, as Femi notes, could be the biggest Brexit lie on record.

The agreement is actually expected to give the UK economy a marginal boost of 1.8 billion pounds, or 0.08 per cent, over 15 years, based on the government’s own assessment in April 2021.

Trying to big up the deal on the BBC, Laura Trott said it was a “huge deal” for Britain.

Emily Thornberry’s reaction says it all!

Jack Peat

Jack is a business and economics journalist and the founder of The London Economic (TLE). He has contributed articles to VICE, Huffington Post and Independent and is a published author. Jack read History at the University of Wales, Bangor and has a Masters in Journalism from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.